Lock-nut.



No. 686,3I3. Patented Nov. I2, |90l. W. N. MECKLAN.

L 0 C K N U T.

ooooooooo l "liil 'I EIM/4% A@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER N. MECKLAN, OF OLEAN, NEW YORK.

LOCK-NUT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 686,318, dated November 12, 1901.

g Application filed March 1l, 1901. Serial No. 50,701. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER N. M ECKLAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Olean, in the county of Cattaraugus and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulv ImprovementsinLock-Nuts; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eX- act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to nut-locks, and has for its object to provide an improved pawland-ratchet arrangement for interlocking the nut `against accidental unscrewing from the bolt and at the same time arranged for convenient disengagement to permit of the ready removal of the nut. It is furthermore designed to have the locking means housed by the nut and also arranged so as not to be interfered with by a wrench applied to the nut.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings,and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims Wit-hout departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 isa sectional view illustrating a bolt and nut equipped with the present invention. Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail view of a key for releasing the locking means.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawings.

To illustrate the present invention, there has been shown an ordinary bolt l1., having the usual nut 2, which is screwed up tight against the part 3, through which the bolt is passed. In carrying out the invention one corner of the nut is notched. Preferably the outer portion thereof is cut off, as indicated at et, and at this point a radial opening or perforation 5 is formed through one side of the nut and communicates at its inner end with the bolt-opening thereof. At substan tially right angles to this perforation another perforation or opening 6 is formed from the `back of the nut forwardly and communicates with the middle portion of the former perforation. Within the radial opening there is slidably mounted an endwisemovable ratchet pawl or dog 7, which has an enlarged head 8 upon the outer end thereof to lie against the bottom of the notch or recess in the adjacent corner of the nut, and thereby limit the inward movement of the pawl. of the pawl is beveled transversely, as at 9, and in the opposite side of the pawl there is provided a notch which produces a sharpspur or tooth 10 between the notch and the beveled face 9, so that the nut may be turned to the right, as the beveled face 9 will slide over the threads; but an opposite turning of the nut will bite the pointed spur or tooth into the threaded portion of the bolt, thereby locking the nut against being unserewed. To prevent outward displacement of the pawl and also place an elastically-yieldable tension thereon for the purpose of normally holding the inner end of the pawl against the threaded portion ofthe bolt,there is provided a folded substantially U-shaped spring 11, which has one end portion inserted inwardly into the opening 6, so that the extremity of its inner side may lie in a notch or recess 12 in the adjacent side of the pawl, the opposite free extremity of the spring being bent in- The inner end A wardly into a coil 0r spring loop 13, lying be- Y tween the opposite sides or members of the spring, so as to place an additional tension upon the end which is in engagement with the pawl. Thus the pawl can yield outwardly when screwing the nut to place and is normally held in engagement with the bolt.

It will be observed that when the nut is set up against a surface the latter closes the outer end of the opening in which the spring is mounted, so as to prevent loss thereof. Moreover, the outer end of the spring lies at the outer end of the opening, and the part 3, through which the bolt passes, forms a stop in engagement with the spring, so as to prevent the latter from being jarred out of engagement with the pawl. By having the head of the pawl seated in a notch or recess it lies within the outer marginal edge of the nut and therefore does not interfere with the application of a wrench to the nut, nor is the pawl interfered with by the wrench, as there IOO is sucient space between the head of the pawl and the outer margin of the nut to permit of the necessary play of the pawl in screwing the nut upon the bolt.

To unscrew the nut, it is first necessary to disengage the pawl from the bolt, and this may be readily accomplished by inserting a bifurcated tool or implement 14 between the head of the pawl and the back of the recess 4 to draw the pawl outwardly from engagement with the bolt, whereby the nut is freed and maybe unscrewed. While it is preferred io use the bifurcated tool, any pointed or bladed implement-as, for instance, aknifemay be inserted beneath the head of the pawl to withdraw the same,

What is claimed isl. Anut having a perforation formed therein and communicating with the bolt-opening, and also provided with a perforation formed through the back of the nut and communicating with the former perforation, an endwise-slidable bolt-engaging pawl mounted in said former perforation and a pawl-engaging spring mounted within the other perforation, the outer end of the latter opening being the only exposed portion thereof and said end being closed by the part against which the nut may be set.

2. A nut, having a transverse opening intersecting the bolt-opening, and a perforation formed through the back of the nut in substantially the direction of the bolt-opening 'in the outer marginal edge thereof and intersecting the front of the nut, there being a transverse opening extending through the back of the socket and communicating with the bolt opening, and also a perforation formed through the back of the nut and in communication with the transverse opening, an endwise-slidable pawl mounted in the opening, with its inner end provided with a laterally-inclined bolt-engaging tooth, and an outer terminally-enlarged head to limit the inward movement of the pawl, and a spring housed within the perforation and connected to the pawl to force the latter inwardly.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WALTER N. MECKLAN.

Witnesses:

CLIFFORD L. BEARE, HIRAM P. GANNING. 

